Milwaukee is no stranger to parties, but it’s never seen anything like the one coming next July.
The 2020 Democratic National Convention is, as of this writing, some 230 or so days away. Our town’s never hosted one of these bad boys, so there are tons of questions. Remember the “to do” list the last time you hosted your family’s reunion? Yeah, it’s like that, only about ten gazillion times longer with tons more people to please. On so many levels.
The woman pictured above is Liz Gilbert, the president of the Host Committee for the 2020 DNC bash. She’s been to this rodeo before–twice, in fact—so she knows what to say when asked all manner of questions, the kind of which she faced last week at a Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker luncheon.
Safe to say much is expected by the locals of this convention thing.
Gilbert is setting the bar high, saying her group’s goal is “to create a diverse and inclusive Milwaukee model and legacy that lasts for years to come,” an event that’s “accessible and intentionally inclusive,” a time that will have neighborhoods touching the convention and a convention that touches neighborhoods.”It’s not just about four days in an arena and that’s it,” Gilbert said. She vows the DNC will “leave a lasting legacy in Milwaukee,” one she admits can mean a lot of things.
Oh, and they still have to nominate a presidential candidate, too.
Just how much can we realistically expect from those four days? What should we anticipate? What shouldn’t surprise us?
Another event that happens every four years–the Olympics–gets routinely dissed for its high cost and alleged lack of local trickle-down, the complaint being that much of the promised regional business never really happens. Same for the annual bacchanal that is the Super Bowl–sure, hotels and restaurants fill but private parties take many an A-lister off the street. Even a few B’s and C’s. I remember being in downtown Dallas the Saturday night before Super Bowl XLV between the Packers and Steelers, producer Bryan Ramsey and myself having an entire bar (and staff) to ourselves even though we were walking distance from the official NFL hotel. Said tavern staff was none too pleased at having just two customers having been led to believe the house would be bouncin’. Same thing happened the night before when a larger gaggle of us hit the other side of the business district–big empty joint with lots of staff to tend to our needs without having to deal with all those other messy patrons. They weren’t amused.
Gilbert says there’ll be 2,000 convention events that’ll “provide opportunity for community engagement”, not to mention the DNC’s effort to touch lives through volunteering. Again, that sounds big and it probably will be, but it has to be put in perspective.
The convention won’t fix what ails Milwaukee Public Schools. It won’t suddenly desegregate our badly divided community. It won’t make our water permanently clean or the sky forever blue. Heck, it couldn’t even get The Hop extended to the host venue, Fiserv Forum.
Sure, hotels will be packed from Chicago to beyond Waldo. Downtown bars and restaurants may open 24/7, turning tables at record paces. You may very well see Anderson Cooper dining at Buckley’s or Adam Schiff quaffing a drink on Water Street after the night’s final gavel. Just don’t expect to see Nancy Pelosi and the Delaware delegation downing White Claws at your corner tap, the probability diminished the further said joint is from downtown. Sure, it would be cool if it happened but don’t be the mortgage on DNC largesse keeping you from picking up a pizza in a timely manner from your neighborhood eatery.
Yes, we host a scad of parties. Northwestern Mutual gathers here each summer, packing downtown with tens of thousands. If you’re in the burbs, you probably don’t even know they’re even here. Harley is the exception but that’s because the company is really good at spreading the party around town: seems almost every home in the county is within two miles of a dealer bash (late addendum: I’ve been reminded the DNC promises some 2,000 events around the community, some that will be public and others that won’t be. Unlike Harley, I’m guessing none will involve mud/jello wrestling). And, Harley anniversary celebrants have a few things in common: all own Hogs, and all Hog owners seem to drive to the Milwaukee gig, filling the streets and thus, raising the number of opportunities we have to bump into a reveler or three at an eatery or pub.
The DNC promises alot and it’ll be under the microscope in terms of delivering. Those 2,000 events will be checked hard and long to make sure they’re as diverse and accessible as Ms. Gilbert said they’d be.
Milwaukee can be sure of four days in global spotlight and the afterglow that’ll come with a positive performance. If we pull this one off, we’d like to think other such events will follow. We may even have to suffer the occasional negative review–the internet and the cancel culture that live there make it a lock that we won’t be pitching a convention no-hitter in terms of nothing but glowing reviews.
The balloons will fall that last night, and the sun will rise that following morning on a city and region that will have experienced something it has never been through before. Will it change some local lives? Sure. Will it mean making “bank” if you’re in the right business in the proper place? No doubt.
But that next morning will find that our roads still need fixing, that we’re still short of cops and that we still have a ways to go when it comes to getting along with each other. Heck, The Hop still won’t be going to Fiserv Forum’s front door.
The DNC can do a lot for our town–there’s a reason cities try so hard to land a major political convention. To heap the event with unrealistic goals, to suggest it’ll cure all civic ills? Nah. That’s not fair, not to the Liz Gilberts of the world or the other 50,000 folks expect to call Milwaukee home for four July days in 2020.
We can reap the obvious benefits. We can learn from any and all mistakes. We can hope that the exposure makes us a destination for other opportunities that, when stacked one upon each other, can bring the resources to generate the change and energy that can truly fix what ails us.
Until then, we’ll sweep up, hose the place off and get ready for the Ryder Cup.